Editor’s Notes.—These two traditions are still told by the country people in 1896.
“La Roque des Faïes.”
A little beyond the village called “Le Bourg de la Forêt” there stood formerly an upright stone, which was known by the name of “La Roque des Faïes,”—the fairies’ stone. It was unfortunately destroyed when the road was improved. The people in the neighbourhood were rather shy of passing it at night, as it was believed that the place was haunted, and that fairies held their nightly revels there. Like other stones of a similar nature it was said to have been placed there by the elves to serve as a goal or mark in their games of ball or bowls; and, according to some accounts, the “Longue Roque” at “Les Paysans” in the adjoining parish of St. Pierre-du-Bois was the other boundary. It is not at all unlikely that these stones may really have served for such a purpose in days of yore, if not for the fairy-folk, at least for mortals. What is more probable than that the peasantry of the islands should have had the same games as existed until lately in Cornwall under the name of “hurling,” and in Brittany under the name of “La Soule,” as well as elsewhere, in which the young men of the neighbouring districts met at certain seasons on the confines of their respective parishes, and contended which should first bear a ball to a spot previously fixed on as the goal in each?
It is said that the spot where the stone in question stood was originally fixed on as the site of the Parish Church of the Forest; but that, after all the materials had been got together for the purpose of laying the foundations of the sacred edifice they were removed in the short space of one night by the fairies to the place where the church now stands, the little people thus resenting the intrusion on their domain.[62]
[62] From Mrs. Richard Murton, born Caroline Le Tullier.
“Le Gibet des Faïes.”
A Celtic monument of the kind commonly known to antiquaries by the name of “trilethon” is said to have existed formerly on the Common at L’Ancresse, near La Hougue Patris. It is described by old people who remember to have seen it in their youth as consisting of three upright stones or props, supporting a fourth, overhanging the others. It was known by the name of “Le Gibet des Fâïes.” Near it was a fountain called “La Fontaine des Fâïes,” the water of which, although not plentiful, was never known to fail entirely, even in the very driest seasons; it is said to have been below the surface in a kind of artificial cave formed by huge blocks of stone, and entered by two openings on different sides. The proprietor of the land many years ago broke up the stones for building purposes and converted the fountain into a well.[63]
[63] Editor’s Note.
Stone on La Moye Estate.
They are still firmly convinced in the Vale parish of the sanctity of Druidical stones, and various stones, which are not generally regarded as being Druidical remains, were pointed out to me by Miss Falla, (whose ancestors for hundreds of years have been landed proprietors at the Vale), as being sacred, and, she added, that her father and grandfathers would have considered it sacrilege to touch them.